They'll Make It
by mhiamitchesario
Summary: After multiple tragedies, will Emily and Spencer need each other in a way greater than friendship?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I have not written fan fiction since I was in 8th grade...now I'm a senior in high school. Shit's crazy. I thought I'd never do it again, I thought it was a strange thing to do. I keep reading Spemily fics and now I want to write one…..I prefer fics where they're friends and gradually something happens, since it seems more realistic to me and that's what I'm into. So this will be pretty slow, romance wise, but I like hurt/comfort so I'm sure there will be a lot of that...anyway, I'm going to write now :-) Starts where Paige attempts to drown Emily.**

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Paige grabbed the top of Emily's already soaked head, gripping onto her hair and plunging her under the water for the 5th time. Emily's screams were muffled by the water, the water that is now choking her; she used to feel her safest in the water, but now it is about to be the cause of her demise. She never thought that someone as distant as Paige would be her murderer, she always figured that A would be the one to silence her for the last time.

Emily screamed as the violent, shaking hand pulled her up with incredible force out of the water. Emily refused to hold her breath this time; she has given up. This is where she will die. The place she loves the most. Paige thrusts Emily under the water once more. Emily tightly closes her eyes, bubbles pouring out of her mouth as more water empties in. She can feel the density of the water attack her brain, enclosing it with death. Just as Emily begins to fade away from the complicated life she has been living, she hears a scream. The hand suddenly lets go of Emily's hair, and more screaming follows. Though she is no longer being drowned, Emily feels no reason to stop this death from happening. A is ruining her life; she can't go anywhere or do anything with anybody without the constant fear of death surrounding her thoughts. As Emily slips away into darkness, a fully-clothed body drops into the pool and rockets her to the surface. Gasping for air, the body holds Emily and runs up the pool stairs as quickly as possible. The figure gently releases Emily onto the ground, shaking her shoulders and screaming in her ear. Emily can hardly hear what the person is saying, for her ears became muffled from the water encasing her.

Spencer could tell that Emily had given up on life; this was obvious due to the fact that Emily was breathing but refused to open her eyes. Spencer did the only thing she could think of.

"SHIT!" Emily screamed as the hand whacked her cheek painfully. She sat up, angrily, ready to jump at the person who just slapped her in the face. She quickly opened her eyes to see Spencer, her eyes watering, her mouth open in a soggy smile. Before Emily could scream at Spencer for slapping her, Spencer grabbed Emily and pulled her into a loving embrace.

Emily wrapped her arms around Spencer's back, ensuring her that she is OK. Spencer pulled away, sadly smiling and heaving with every breath. Emily backed away a little bit, still on the floor, only being held up by her elbows. She shook her head and angrily looked at Spencer.

"Why the hell did you slap me? Is that what they teach you in class? Someone's drowning, so slap them in the face?"

Spencer laughed as another tear escaped her eyes. She sat down on the floor and pulled her knees into her chest. "I'm sorry," she choked through a sorrowful laugh. "You're alive, aren't you?"

Emily sat up, also pulling her knees into her chest. She remembered that Paige had just been in the room, dunking her head forcefully under the water, in an attempt to murder her.

"Where is Paige?" Emily asked in a worried tone. "What happened?"

Spencer sighed and turned her head to Emily. "I don't know what I saw. All I know is that I was about to witness the murder of one of my best friends. I kind of went blind in anger. We've been through so much, I couldn't lose another friend. I think I must have punched her in the head. She started screaming at me, words I couldn't make out, and then she ran away crying. I saw you were in the water, not coming out of it, so I jumped in and grabbed you. Then I slapped you in the face, much to your dislike, and now we're here."

Emily almost began to laugh before the memories began intruding her head. The trauma of a near-death experience, and this was not the first. She quickly looked around the pool, in case Paige were still there. She turned to Spencer, a worried look in her eyes, "We need to get out of here, I don't feel comfortable. Can you call Hanna and Aria? They need to know about this, and there's no way in hell I'm sleeping without you guys tonight."

Emily got up off of the floor and began to walk into the locker room, Spencer following. Before they reached the door of the room, Emily turned to Spencer.

"She might be in there," she said, her eyes beginning to get puffy. "Maybe I should just go home like this, there are extra towels in here." She looked down at her soaked bathing suit, then outside the window, where the trees hardly held a leaf.

"No," Spencer replied. "It's freezing out there. I'll go into the locker room first, we can stick together. I'm not going to put up with a sick Emily again," she winked. "Take my hand, we'll go in together. I'm sure she went running home after that mark I put on her face."

Emily laughed at cautiously took Spencer's cold hand. It was still wet from the water. They slowly walked into the locker room, Spencer slightly ahead of Emily. She looked everywhere in the room for a sign of Paige, but there were none. She let go of Emily's hand and turned to her.

"It's clear. Go change in the bathroom stall, I'll stand outside," Spencer suggested. Emily grabbed her clothes from her locker and walked into one of the stalls. As Emily was changing, Spencer called Aria and Hanna to inform them of the sudden sleepover that was happened at her house. Both of the girls were worried about Emily, saying that they would come to the school. Spencer told them to forget coming to the school, seeing as she and Emily were about to leave, and to go to her house and await their arrival. The girls agreed and Spencer hung up the phone, just as Emily exited the stall.

"We should go now," Emily said. "The longer I stay in this place, the less comfortable I feel."

Spencer nodded in agreement. She led the way out of the locker room and out of the door into the cold. The Pennsylvania winters are always freezing. She and Emily ran to her car and quickly got in. Spencer started up the engine and put the heat on blast. As Spencer began to drive, Emily's mind began to wander. She had a few questions about what had happened, despite being there.

As Spencer continued to drive, Emily turned to her and asked, "why were you at the pool in the first place? It's unlike you to be at school passed hours."

Spencer turned to Emily and quickly looked away. "Truthfully?" Spencer said with a worried look in her eyes. "I was there going through Mr. Fitz's desk. I knew that you were at the pool and thought you'd want a ride home, so I went to go ask. Then when I came in I saw Paige, and you know the rest."

Emily's eyebrows scrunched in questioning. "Why were you looking through Mr. Fitz's desk?" Emily had always been a little skeptical of the guy, but not to the point that she'd break into his classroom and look through his belongings.

Spencer looked ahead at the road as she answered, "I got an A message. He, she, whoever, told me to take his apartment keys that are in his desk, or else something would happen to you, Aria and Hanna. So I did it. I dropped them off in this office in the basement. That's where A wanted me to put them."

Emily stared at Spencer with wide eyes. She was about to say something about how much danger that could put Aria in, but then she realized that if the keys were not given to A, they would all be in danger. Emily wanted to punch something. A infuriated her to the highest level. All this person wanted to do was to ruin there lives, steal their secrets, and invade on their privacy. Emily struggled to think of a reason why someone would do this to them, for they had never done anything so evil, other than the Jenna thing. Emily's mind continued to wander as they pulled up to Spencer's house. She and Emily got out of the car and quickly ran inside to the warmth.

Emily flew onto the couch, burying her face into a pillow. She turned her head and faced Spencer, who was in the kitchen making coffee, as usual. For the first time since the incident, Emily thought about how Spencer saved her life, even when she had given up on herself. She hadn't even thanked Spencer yet.

She sat up on the couch, crossing her legs. She looked to Spencer, who was facing the other direction, still in the kitchen.

"Thank you, I can't believe I haven't said that yet, but thank you. You saved me when I gave up on myself," Emily said.

Spencer turned around and replied, "I couldn't let you die. I wouldn't let you die." Spencer smiled and walked over to Emily with 2 coffees in her hands. "But, you're welcome," she said as she sat down next to Emily and handed her one of the coffees.

Emily felt pathetic. She was about to let herself die. She turned to Spencer and a tear slowly traveled down her face. Spencer returned the glance. They stared into each others eyes, both equally concerned with the troubled lives they lead.

Emily sucked in a breath as her tears became more violent. She began to heave with fear and sadness. Spencer gently took the coffee from her hand and replaced it with her own. She grabbed tightly onto Emily's fingers and stared her in the eyes.

"If you think you're pathetic, you're not," she said with angry confidence. "I wouldn't have held on as long as you have, seeing what you've been through. If I had been in your place, I wouldn't have come up after the first time I'd gone under. You were brave enough to fight for your life, even though it's at its worst." She gently rubbed her finger back and forth over Emily's hand.

Emily quickly stood up and shook her head. "I shouldn't be crying, I should be hunting down Paige and punching that bitch in the face," she said angrily.

Spencer stood up and walked over to Emily. She pulled her into another tight embrace, and Emily hung her head over Spencer's shoulder in shame. Suddenly the door opened and Aria and Hanna ran into the room.

They ran over to Emily as she continued hugging Spencer, refusing to let go to hug the other girls, at least not for a moment. Spencer was the first one to pull away from Emily as Aria and Hanna jumped in to comfort the brunette.

They talked about the incident for the rest of the evening, all huddled together in a protective fort they had built in the living room. They had pushed three couches together to form a wall around the floor where their blankets and pillows were all piled up on each other. When it was time to go to sleep, Spencer laid down on the floor nearest to one of the couches. Emily settled in next to her, and Hanna next to Emily. Aria slept on the other side nearest to the opposite couch. When Aria, Hanna and Spencer were asleep, Emily turned to Spencer and grabbed her hands. She whispered, "thank you" to Spencer as she turned around and closed her eyes, her heart beating faster than normal.

**ANOTHER A/N: Hehehehe, you expected a kiss and instead she gets slapped in the face. I have bad humour. I didn't proof read this, so if anything is off….then blame me for being lazy. There will be more, if I get enough reviews/follows. Remember, this is going to be more realistic than fics that jump into sexual relationships within the first chapter. But, if and when it gets there, it will be good ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

Spencer was the first to wake up the next morning, as usual. She quinted her eyes at the bright, white light intruding through the window and slowly sat up. She used her fingers to brush through her curly, messy hair, and looked around at her friends. Aria was still sleeping, her phone clutched to her chest, like always. Hanna's mascara cascaded down from her eye lashes messily, as if she fought with herself in the night. Then Spencer turned and looked at Emily, the girl who was beside her. Emily didn't even look like she was sleeping; her eyes were closed, but everything else about her looked like it does when she's awake. Her hair fell down her face beautifully and a small smile lined her lips. Spencer sighed and pushed herself to her feet, glancing back at Emily one more time to make sure she was still sleeping. She wanted the girl to get in as much sleep as possible, remembering the trauma she experienced the night before.

Spencer walked quietly to the kitchen and began to make coffee. As she sat on the counter, waiting for the coffee to boil, she remembered that Emily didn't bring any clothing. They left from the school straight to Spencer's house without stopping on the way, and the only clothes Emily had on were some sweat pants and a white tank top. Spencer sneakily ran up the stairs and to her closet. She grabbed one of her over-sized hoodies and brought it downstairs to give to Emily once she left. Spencer figured that Hanna or Aria would give her a ride, since they would be going home anyway. Though, in the freezing Rosewood winters, cars can be just as cold as the outside.

As Spencer wandered into the kitchen, she noticed another figure. Emily had woken up, which wasn't surprising, seeing as she wakes up at 6am some mornings for swim practice.

"Oh, hey, I brought you down a hoodie since it's cold outside. I figured getting in a cold car in a tank top wouldn't be idyllic," Spencer said as she poured some coffee into a mug.

"Thanks, I was seriously thinking about stealing Hanna's jacket. Now I won't seem as evil. Would you like to pour me some?" Emily said with a wink.

Spencer nodded and turned to grab another mug from the upper cupboard. She poured the coffee into the white mug and set it on the counter next to Emily.

"Thanks," Emily said as Spencer put down the coffee. "I'm glad you wake up so early, I hate being the only one awake," she said as she took a sip from the mug. "Hanna and Aria sleep in until at least noon; I always end up sneaking out of the house like I had a one night stand or something," Emily giggled.

Spencer turned to her and sat up on the counter. "You'd have a hard time getting away from me if we had a one night stand. I wake up if I hear a fly bat its wings."

Emily hopped up on the counter next to her. "I know," she said. "You're worse than me."

Spencer's eyes widened slightly as her mind slipped back to the previous day. "Wait," Spencer said, "how did you sleep last night? Any nightmares or anything?"

Emily took another sip from her coffee. "Nope," she said. "I slept surprisingly well for someone who almost died. I doubt I would have if I were alone. I doubt I'd be alive if you hadn't of swept in and punched Paige in the face." Emily began to giggle before her eyebrows scrunched together in anger. "I hate that girl. I didn't do anything to her and she tries to kill me. What the hell is wrong with people in this town?" she turned to Spencer questioningly.

Spencer put her hand on Emily's shoulder and turned to her. She looked Emily in the eyes. "I'm really not sure," she said. She took her hand off of the girl's shoulder and put it back on her cup. Emily immediately missed the protection of Spencer's hand on her shoulder. Spencer began to speak again. "We didn't do anything to deserve death. I'm still trying to figure out why so many people seem to be after us. This is harder than any class I've taken." Spencer stared forwards and looked at the ground.

Emily smiled slightly at Spencer's sarcastic tone. She turned to Spencer. "Seriously though, Spencer. I wouldn't be alive if you hadn't of jumped in the water after me. So thank you, I really mean it." She wrapped her arms around Spencer's upper body and rested her head on her shoulder. Spencer still sat forward, but placed her hand on one of Emily's arms. "You're welcome," she said as she rested her head against Emily's. A strange feeling began to bubble up inside of Spencer, and her heart began to race slightly. She could feel her face getting redder and redder. She took her hand off of Emily's arm and jumped off of the counter. Emily looked slightly confused at Spencer's sudden behavior. Spencer seemed as if she was embarrassed by being in physical contact with her. Is it because she is gay and Spencer isn't? Maybe her friends feel uncomfortable when she hugs them. Emily hopped off of the counter and placed her empty coffee cup by the sink as Spencer walked into the living room to wake up the other girls.

Hanna drove Emily to school the next morning and they met up with Aria and Spencer outside of the school. As the four walked up the stairs, they automatically formed a protective line around Emily, placing her in the middle next to Spencer. Emily smiled at how protective her friends are, but she also felt like a defenseless puppy.

"You guys don't have to be my bodyguards, you know," Emily said as they walked into the school. "I can handle her. I do appreciate you and all, but I can handle it."

Spencer turned to Emily with a worried look in her eyes. It wasn't too obvious, but it was there, and Emily could see it. She didn't think Spencer cared that much, not enough to genuinely be worried about her well-being. Emily turned to the girls. "Just for today," she said, and a relieved look washed over Spencer's face.

Spencer and Emily had their first class together, so they walked in unison to the classroom. Spencer took the lead and Emily followed quickly behind her to keep up with the fast pace. She grabbed onto Spencer's backpack to make sure they didn't get separated as they steered through the busy hallway. Spencer slowed down as they approached the classroom and stopped dead in her tracks when she looked inside and saw Paige talking to their teacher.

Paige turned her head and looked at Spencer and Emily with an expression of pure hatred. Spencer grabbed onto Emily's hand from behind her and narrowed her eyes at Paige. Spencer backed up out of the doorway and led Emily into the bathroom.

"We'll just stay in here for 5 minutes, she should be gone by then," Spencer commented. Emily walked over to the mirrors above the sinks and fixed her hair. Spencer did the same.

Emily turned away from the mirror suddenly and drooped her head to face the floor. Spencer turned and saw a drop of water fall to the ground directly under Emily's face. Emily looked up to Spencer with pleading eyes. She didn't want to feel this weak. She knows that she's not this weak. But, for some reason, after everything she's been through, her strength has finally been pulled out from under her.

Spencer walked quickly over to Emily and tightly pulled her into an embrace. She placed one hand flat over Emily's middle back and the other on the back of her head. Emily laid her head on Spencer's shoulder and quietly sobbed. Spencer calmly stroked the back of Emily's head and leant her own on the other girl's shoulder. After a minute of staying in this position, Spencer stood back and grabbed onto Emily's shoulders.

"You're stronger than this, and I know you're not going to let some low-life bitch get to you. You may feel weak, but the best thing to do is to be stronger than her. I know you can do it," Spencer said, looking into Emily's eyes.

Emily sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She looked to Spencer and nodded as she turned to grab her bag. The two left the bathroom and walked into the classroom. Paige had left and class was about to begin. They sat down next to each other and Spencer gave Emily's hand a reassuring grab.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I promise a kiss next chapter ;)**

The girls boarded the bus to Ravenswood in an attempt to track down A. Caleb had informed them that the cell phone, or at least one of the cell phones, sending them A messages originated from somewhere in the shady town of Ravenswood. Hanna sat next to Spencer and Aria next to Emily in the row of seats at the back of the run-down bus. The engine was loud and obnoxious; the darkness and fog outside surrounded the bus.

"Caleb better be right about this," Aria said cautiously, narrowing her eyes at Hanna. "I hate this town enough as it is, and to think that A could be here? Even worse."

Hanna peeked past Spencer to look across the seat at Aria. "Of course he's right," she said with attitude. "He makes a living off of this stuff. Plus, I'd kill him if he made us come all the way out here for nothing."

Aria turned away and looked out of the window. Emily looked over at Spencer, who was quietly reading a book beside Hanna. She looked so peaceful, so at ease, in another world, a world far away from the horrible one they inhabit. Emily glanced away as soon as Spencer picked her eyes up from the book; she didn't want her friend knowing she was staring at her with such intensity.

Hanna turned to Spencer. "Why, and how, the hell are you reading?" she asked. "This bus is so old and loud I couldn't hear music at full volume, let alone read."

Spencer narrowed her eyes at Hanna, closing her book and showing a half smile. "I have some family expectations to live up to. Not that I don't enjoy reading books about the origins of prehistoric life," she stated. "We're here now, anyway," she said as the bus came to a halt.

Spencer was the first to get up and led the way, followed by Hanna, Emily and Aria. They exited the bus into the cold evening, which was lit up by the dozens of eery street lamps that littered the sidewalks. Spencer grabbed her purple scarf and pulled it up to her face in an attempt to keep warm. Emily pulled her beanie further down her head as Aria lifted up her hood and Hanna put on her white gloves.

Hanna opened her phone to the text Caleb had sent her earlier with the approximate location of the cell phone signal.

"Looks like it's a five minute walk from here," she said to the girls. "It looks like a pretty big building, maybe a warehouse."

Aria's eyes widened. "A warehouse?" she questioned. "Great, plenty of places for A to hide."

Spencer turned to Aria. "A shouldn't even know that we're here," she said with slight anxiety in her voice. "Unless she...he, whoever, lives there."

Emily was tired of waiting in the cold and started walking in the direction Hanna had previously pointed. The other girls ran to catch up with her and followed as she speed-walked down the dimly-lit streets.

All of the stores they passed were closed. There were no people on the streets, despite it being only 7pm, and the only sounds that echoed around the town were the rustling of leaves. Spencer caught up to Emily and walked at a hurried pace beside her, while the other two girls followed behind them. Spencer pulled her scarf further up her face to fight the cold air that entangled her.

After walking in the arctic-like weather for a few minutes, the girls stopped as a fairly large warehouse came into site. The place wasn't huge, about the size of a grocery store. It was white, a colour they could barely see due to the fact that there were no lights outside of the building nor inside. They cautiously walked towards the door of the building in the freezing cold and tugged at the door.

"Locked," Spencer said with a sigh. "Shocking."

Hanna walked up to the door and gently nudged Spencer out of the way. "Move," she said as she took out a bobby pin from her bag. "Stealing has its perks," she said while picking at the lock. Spencer smirked and rolled her eyes.

The door opened.

The building was huge inside; there were stacks upon stacks of crates lining the place and surrounding it like a maze. The warehouse was pitch black until Aria reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, equipped with a flashlight. She shone it onto the walls where she found a light switch and turned it on. Only some of the lights in the building lit up, but it was enough to see where they were going.

"This is the weirdest place to have a super secret stalker lair," Hanna remarked to the girls.

Spencer turned to her. "We might as well start looking around, seeing as we're already here," she said.

The girls silently walked down the middle aisle of the building. Spencer and Emily took the lead and Hanna and Aria followed behind. As they walked, they looked from side to side, peering down each aisle of the stacks of crates.

Suddenly Emily stopped and took in a deep, quick breath of surprise. She turned to the other girls, her eyes wide.

"Did you see that?" she exclaimed as silently as possible. The girls frantically turned their heads from side to side, checking the aisles for a sign of someone.

"No?" Hanna said sarcastically.

"Em," Spencer turned to Emily. "What did you see?" Her eyes were wide with anxiety.

"Someone, something. A hooded figure," Emily replied with fear in her eyes.

"Red coat?" Aria suggested, her eyes also widening in the tense moment.

"No," Emily commented. "It was someone in a black hoodie, not a red coat."

"Let's just keep walking," Spencer replied as she took the lead again.

Spencer walked quickly down the centre of the building with the girls following behind. She glanced down each aisle in worried hope of seeing someone or something. Once they reached the back of the warehouse, she turned back to the girls.

"We should probably walk back in the other direction, nearest to the light. Once we're there, we'll try splitting up. Aria and I will go left, Hanna and Emily, you guys go right. Let's just stick together until we get back to the front of this place," Spencer said.

The girls turned around and started walking back. Spencer trailed behind as she carefully peeked down each aisle of the giant building.

Emily was in the front of the line, walking as fast as she could and quickly glancing down the rows of crates. She could hear the other girls walking fast to keep up with her impatient pace. Once they reached the front of the building, Emily turned around to face the other girls. Her eyes widened in fear.

"Um...where the hell is Spencer?" she asked loudly with obvious concern.

The girls frantically turned their heads to face in the other direction, the direction they thought they heard Spencer trailing behind them from.

"This isn't good…" Aria said, worry creeping up her throat and echoing into her voice.

"Spencer!" Emily yelled, her eyebrows arched upwards in fear for her friend. "Spencer, where are you!" she yelled.

"Spence?" Aria called out into the darkness of the facility. The only response was a muffled yell from an unknown direction.

Emily bolted down one of the aisles, screaming Spencers name as loud as she could. Aria and Hanna attempted to keep up, but fell quickly behind the swimmer's pace and out of sight.

"Spencer!" Emily screamed, running as fast as she could down the aisles. She suddenly stopped at the sound of a thud; a noise resembling that of something hard and metallic being hit against something softer and weaker. A moan escaped from what seemed like about 50 yards ahead of Emily. She sprinted down the aisle to where the sound came from. Once she reached the origin, she gasped in fear at what she saw.

Spencer was lying on the ground, seemingly alive but unconscious. There were no other people around, only a metal bat lying on the ground and a giant, red "A" written on Spencer's forehead in blood.

Emily rushed over to the fallen girl and shook her shoulders with force.

"Spencer? Spencer!?" she screamed with unstoppable concern. Her eyes began to water and her heart raced faster than a ferrari.

The girl refused to wake up. Spencer's eyes were shut, a large bruise began to form on her forehead. Emily wrapped her hand around Spencer's neck and another one on her lower back. She drew the body towards her and sobbed into the warm, familiar shoulders.

Hanna and Aria suddenly appeared from one of the aisles.

"What the hell happened?" Hanna questioned, running over to Spencer's unconscious body with Aria at her side.

"I don't know," Emily sobbed between breaths. "I came over here and found her like this..."

Emily took off her jacket, the only thing keeping her warm in the freezing building, and made a pillow out of it on the floor. She rested Spencer's head on the soft, black structure and carefully put her thumb on the girl's head. She began to tenderly attempt to wipe away the writing A had left on Spencer's forehead. Aria and Hanna sat down beside Emily. Aria placed her hand on Emily's shoulder in reassurance.

"She'll be fine," Aria said. "She's only knocked out. Even if she were in a coma she'd fight her way out of it in less than an hour," she remarked with a smile. "We should just wait here until she wakes up."

Emily hardly heard a word Aria said. All she could focus on was the beautiful girl lying in front of her, with the mark of a killer on her forehead. Emily couldn't stand the fact that A had touched Spencer, and she didn't know why she was so worked up about it. If A had done the same thing to Aria or Hanna, she would be concerned, but she would stay strong, not break down and cry. She placed her hand on Spencer's and gripped it tightly. She turned to Aria, a tear running down her face.

"Emily," Hanna began, "I've never seen you so concerned in your life. Not even for me!"

"She saved my life," Emily said through her tears. She turned back to Spencer and rubbed the girl's cheek using her thumb with every ounce of love in her body. "She saved me when I didn't want to be saved."

Aria and Hanna's eyes grew large at the fact that Emily was willing to let go of her life. They were about to start lecturing Emily until Spencer shuffled and opened her eyes slightly.

"Spencer!" Emily pouted, pulling the semi-conscious girl towards her in a tight, loving embrace. Emily didn't want to let go, ever. She wouldn't let anything like this happen to Spencer again.

Spencer wasn't exactly sure what had happened or what was going on, all she knew is that she could feel Emily's tears on her shoulder. She put an arm on Emily's back and drew her in.

"Jesus christ, Spencer…" Emily cried as she pulled away from her.

Hanna and Aria jumped on Spencer and hugged the confused girl. Spencer felt less fulfilled as Emily scooted away from her and the other girls hopped in. Emily was warmer, gentler. Spencer shook her head at the strange thoughts and hugged the other girls.

"Well, that was a bust," Hanna remarked as they entered Spencer's house for the second night in a row.

"You think?" Spencer answered sarcastically, feeling better after getting out of the warehouse and back to the safety of her home.

"You're feeling better…" Hanna replied, rolling her eyes. "Do you want us to stay over again? It's not like your parents would care, they're in who-knows-what-country with Melissa."

"I don't mind," Spencer replied as she walked over to the coffee pot, anxious to pour herself a mug of the stuff. "If you don't want to, you don't have to. It makes no difference to me."

Aria hopped up onto the counter as Spencer turned on the pot. "I was planning on going to Ezra's, so I'm gonna have to pass...if that's ok," she said.

"It's fine," Spencer replied. "I'll be fine, I don't even remember what happened."

"Crap…" Hanna blurted out of nowhere. "My mom wants me home. Sorry, Spence," Hanna said as she hugged the girls goodbye. "See you Monday." With that she left, Aria following behind.

"You don't have to stay," Spencer said as she turned to Emily, who was sitting on the couch in the living room. "I'll be ok, I'm a Hastings," she commented with a wink.

"If you want me to stay, I'll stay," Emily responded, walking into the kitchen.

"Good," Spencer replied with a grateful breath, pouring the black concoction into a mug. "I didn't want to seem needy, but recently I have been. And I need someone here."

Emily walked up and stood beside Spencer. "Me too," she said with a smile.

"Do you wanna watch a movie? I'm thinking a horror movie...psychological horror, of course," Spencer remarked.

"Sure," Emily responded, walking over to the couch with Spencer.

They sat down at opposite ends of the couch and Spencer turned the TV on.

"The Shining?" she suggested, showing a cheeky smile in Emily's direction.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Oh, God...if we have to," she responded.

Spencer turned off all of the lights in the house so that the only light in the room came off of the TV. She turned on the movie and curled up into a protective ball.

"...HEEEERE'S JOHNNY!" screamed the TV. Emily jumped as the axe hit the door for the first time. She noticed that she had moved at least 5 feet closer to Spencer throughout the movie, because she was right next to her. Spencer was laughing and looking at Emily with bright eyes. Emily scowled and pulled her knees up to her chest in fear.

Emily sat frozen looking at the TV. She was so frightened she didn't feel Spencer collapse on her legs in a heavy sleep until the movie ended. She looked down at the other girl, so peacefully sleeping on Emily's lap. Emily smiled and turned off the TV, submerging the room in darkness. She smiled and tenderly drew a stray hair out of Spencer's face. She grabbed the blanket next to her and wrapped it around the sleeping girl. She began, without thought, to stroke Spencer's shoulder.

Suddenly, she stopped.

What am I doing? she thought. Oh no, please no...I can't think of Spencer in this way...not now…

She looked down at the girl on her lap. She couldn't not think of Spencer in that way. There were no other ways of thinking about her. She slept so calmly, her face perfect. Everything about her is perfect. Emily sighed and rolled her head backwards onto the couch cushion. She closed her eyes, a hand still resting on Spencer's shoulder, and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This doesn't follow the storyline of the show, if you get confused as to why certain events seem to have happened before they actually do in the show.**

"You were amazing!" Spencer exclaimed as she threw her arms over Emily in a tight, congratulatory hug. She, Aria and Hanna were in the school lobby after Emily had just won the swim meet for the Sharks. Emily lovingly wrapped her arms around Spencer's back and embraced her friend, feeling butterflies in her stomach at the close proximity to the flawless girl. Spencer drew away, too soon for both of their liking, smiling with pride, as Hanna went in for the next hug.

"Are we still going to the Brew?" Emily asked, a smile still on her face from her victory after she pulled away from Hanna.

"Duh," Hanna replied beaming. It had been a long time since they'd had a normal evening together, all 4 of them.

Once the girls arrived at the Brew, they sat down at their usual table in the middle of the busy restaurant. Spencer sat opposite of Emily and Hanna opposite of Aria. The waitress came around and they ordered their normal coffees.

The chimes above the door rang with excitement as Toby walked in. He hadn't changed much, he was still tall, good-looking, and had a perfectly toned body. He and Spencer had broken up about a month ago after she found out he was on the A team, though she still had strong feelings for him. He had explained that he was on the A team for good reason, but he refused to tell Spencer what they were. Her eyes widened with happiness as he entered the building.

"Spencer," Toby said with a sweet smile, walking over to the girl and extending his arms towards her.

"Toby," Spencer rose out of her seat and hugged her ex tightly. She slung her arms around his neck as he caressed her back.

Emily narrowed her eyes in anger. Her eyebrows reached an all time low and she began to get red in the face. Even Aria and Hanna looked slightly mad, and they didn't have a crush on Spencer. He shouldn't be hugging her and she shouldn't be hugging him. They broke up. It's over. Why are they even in communication with each other? Emily just about exploded in her seat. Toby had broken Spencer's heart, and now he's here, hugging her? Leading her on? Does he regret the breakup? Spencer would go back to him in a second, and Emily knew it. When the two broke apart from their extended embrace and began talking, Emily looked away out of fear she'd punch Toby in the face. He was her friend, once, but as soon as he broke Spencer's heart, she shunned him. When Emily looked back at her table, she noticed Aria and Hanna had their incredibly wide eyes targeted on her.

"What the hell was that, Em?" Hanna questioned with a smirk. She knows this side of Emily. This is Emily's jealous side, and Hanna was surprised that it was aimed at Spencer.

"What?" Emily replied raising her eyebrows in questioning, losing the redness in her face as she made her way back to reality. "Nothing."

Hanna smiled and rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, lover girl."

Spencer sat back down at the table after saying goodbye to Toby. Hanna and Aria automatically looked from her to Emily.

"What?" Spencer asked the girls with crinkled eyebrows.

"Nothing!" Hanna replied with a smile. "You got a thing for Toby again?"

"As much as I dislike the fact...I do still love him," Spencer replied with a timid look on her face.

Emily just about broke inside. How could she still love him after how he treated her?

"Kinky…" Hanna said with a wink.

"He's not good enough for her," Emily complained to Hanna in her room, walking back and forth in anger. "You know what he did to her! How could someone break Spencer's heart? She's so innocent, she wouldn't hurt a fly unless she had to. Not to mention he completely left her out in the cold. He ignored her when they were dating and that's not cool. How can someone ignore Spencer? Does he know what he put her through? And she still loves him? God, I just want to punch him in the face." Emily screamed. She turned and looked straight into Hanna's eyes. "He doesn't deserve her."

Hanna looked back at Emily. "We all want to punch Toby for what he did...but…Emily, do you like Spencer?" she asked seriously.

"What?" Emily retaliated. "No! Why would you think that? She's straight, I wouldn't go after her, that'd be stupid, I'd just be setting myself up for disappointment."

"Well…" Hanna began. "You've been acting different lately, especially around Spencer. You looked like you were about to stick a knife in Toby's neck at the Brew, not that Aria and I weren't, but I never thought that you'd be the one to hate another person."

Emily sat down on the bed next to Hanna and buried her head in her hands. "I can't like her…" she said with a sigh, giving up. "I can't. It's all because she saved me. I never noticed how perfect she is before...until she jumped into that water and saved my life. In the warehouse, the last thing I was going to do was let her die. That's when I noticed her again. How absolutely flawless she is…"

"Oh. My. God. This is so exciting!" Hanna screamed in Emily's face. "I've got you covered, Em. I'm the real life Cupid."

"Don't tell Spencer or I'll hurt you," Emily said seriously, but with a relieved smile. She finally admitted the feelings she was so confused about and it felt great. "But thank you for listening to me and for getting these feelings out, I might have denied them for the rest of my life if you hadn't asked me about them," Emily said as she smiled at Hanna.

"Oh, if it has anything to do with my two best friends getting together, you know I'll be all over it," Hanna said with cheerful eyes, wrapping her arms lovingly around Emily.

As the girls went to lunch the following day, Hanna immediately sat next to Aria and winked at Emily so she'd have to sit with Spencer. Emily blushed and sat down awkwardly next to her friend. She had never acted so abnormal in her life. Though she felt relieved to get her feelings out in the open to someone, it didn't help her feel any less embarrassed around Spencer.

"So…" Hanna began with a mischievous smile. "Wanna have a sleepover this weekend at my house?" Though Hanna really wanted a sleepover, it was also a plot to get Emily and Spencer in the same room together.

"Can't," Spencer replied. "I'm hanging out with Toby downtown."

Emily's heart broke and Hanna could see.

"Fine," she said. "We'll just have one without you! You're missing out, Spence. There will be alcohol. Lots of it."

"You need to get your ass downtown before Toby and Spencer meet up and he steals her heart," Hanna said to Emily as they sat down on her couch next to each other. Aria had been filled into the situation and agreed.

"You need to tell her or else you'll have to see her with Toby, and who knows how long that'll go on for," Aria said.

"It's harder than you think," Emily sighed. "This is Spencer we're talking about. She's not exactly the easiest person to communicate with."

"She listens to you," Aria said with a smile, putting a hand on Emily's knee. "Do you see the way she looks at you? Whenever you talk she just stares into your eyes."

Emily's heart began to beat faster. "Really?" she asked, looking to Aria with sad but hopeful eyes.

"I see it too," Hanna jumped in. "She looks at you like you're a freaking goddess or something."

Though Emily's heart raced at the thought, she couldn't believe it.

"Then how come I've never seen her look at me like that?" Emily asked, losing some of her happiness.

"Because you're blind to what we can see," Aria replied. "We know Spencer, and she never looks at us like that."

"I really hope you're not just saying these things," Emily said, her eyes lighting up at the thought of Spencer staring at her, but a frown still stuck to her face. "But I'm not going downtown. It's her life, and if she's happy, I'm happy."

"Fine…" Hanna replied with a sigh. "We'll just sit here as she kisses Toby…"

"Stop," Emily responded. "I'm not doing it and you're not helping. I'm not going to ruin her night."

"Well, ok," Hanna said, giving up. "Let's just go eat somewhere downtown then and spy on her. She won't see us. We're just...being protective!"

"Great idea," Aria chirped in. "This way we can keep an eye on Toby. I still don't completely trust him."

Aria and Hanna jumped off of the couch and pulled the unwilling Emily to her feet and out of the door.

The girls sat down at a small restaurant in town and ordered some food. They sat at the stools by the windows in case Spencer and Toby walked by. Recently they had all become more protective than usual over each other, especially after the incident at the warehouse. A is capable of killing and has shown that he/she is not afraid to try.

Toby isn't horrible, but he was on the A team. He broke Spencer's heart and left her out in the cold. When she tried to get him back, he ignored her. Now that she has been without him for a few months, he has realized what he is missing out on. Toby wants Spencer back, and the girls know that he will be able to convince Spencer of anything. He's manipulative, and the girls know that if they attempt to barge into Spencer's love life they will feel the wrath of the Hastings.

"I wonder what they're doing…" Aria inquired. "They have to walk by at some point."

Emily's eyebrows were turned upwards in sadness. All she wanted to do was to go and get Spencer away from Toby. He isn't good enough for her. Emily knows that although Spencer is straight and will never like her back, she will still protect the other girl like family.

"Look!" Hanna shouted randomly, causing people in the restaurant to turn their heads in anger at the disturbance. "There!"

Spencer and Toby were walking together. Spencer's face wasn't happy; it was sad and filled with anger. Toby had done something to her and Emily knew it. She didn't know what he did, but one of them must have said something to start a fight, because they were facing each other and yelling as quietly as they could in the busy streets. Emily's eyes began to light up.

"Woah, this is juicy…" Hanna said, scooting forward in her seat to get a better look. "Should we do something?"

"No," Emily said confidently. "She wouldn't want that." Emily knew Spencer well enough to stay away from her when she was arguing with someone.

Spencer through her arms up at Toby and slapped him in the face. He grabbed her wrist and pointed his finger in her face.

Emily stood up in her seat, ready to pounce if Toby hurt Spencer. Aria grabbed onto Emily's wrist and told her to wait. Hanna was also out of her seat with her fists clenched.

"Wait? Why the hell aren't we doing anything? He just grabbed her wrist like she's a plaything! What if he hurts her?" Emily's eyes pierced into Aria's.

"He won't do anything that stupid in public," Aria replied with a level head as she loosened her grip. "Just hold on a second."

Before Toby could say anything else, Spencer stormed off in the other direction. Toby stood in the middle of the street and drew his hands to his head in shame. He looked into the sky and walked in the opposite direction of Spencer.

"See," Aria said while rubbing Emily's wrist with her thumb. "We know you love her, but if we had intervened it might have been worse."

Emily drew her wrist out of Aria's grip and sat back down, contemplating whether to go after Spencer.

"Should we, like, go or something?" Hanna questioned as she calmed herself back into her seat.

"Yeah," Emily said in response. "We should."

"Noooo," Aria began. "You should," she said with a smile.

Emily rested her head onto her arms that were folded on the table.

"Ok," she finally said. "But come over to Spencer's house an hour after I get there in case she's in a bad mood...we all know what that's like."

"Spencer?" Emily called into the dark house as she walked through the front door. All of the lights were off and there was no hint of life anywhere throughout the first floor.

Emily quietly walked up the stairs and peered into Spencer's room. Spencer was in her bed, curled up in a ball with anger plastered all over her face. Not sadness, just anger.

"Hey," Emily said quietly as she walked over to the bed. She sat down next to Spencer and looked down at the other girl. "What happened?"

"Huh?" Spencer asked, looking at Emily with a confused expression on her face. "What happened with what?"

"We were eating and we saw you and Toby fight," Emily admitted, feeling kind of like a stalker.

"Oh," Spencer sighed. "Nothing happened."

"Spence," Emily began as she put a hand on Spencer's shoulder over the blanket. "Something obviously happened."

"Well, it was nothing important," Spencer remarked as she looked at Emily with anger. She could see Emily jump at her ferocity. "Sorry," Spencer said as she sat up in bed next to Emily.

"Tell me what happened before Aria and Hanna come over, or they'll make you say what happened," Emily said with a smile.

"I don't know," Spencer said with a sigh, putting her head in her hands. "He just...said that he thought I killed Alison. And that people were convinced that I did. He said that I should just admit it before someone finds it out. I didn't kill her. I didn't. And now people are going around thinking that I have, and the worst part is that he thinks I killed her. I still have feelings for him and he basically shot me in the heart with what he said. I'd never kill Alison. There were times when I hated her, especially seeing how she treated you and Hanna specifically, but I wouldn't kill her."

"What do you mean by Hanna and I? Why not Aria?" Emily asked.

"She always used to tell gay jokes when you were around and I could see it was affecting you. I could tell that you had something going on in your mind that you couldn't figure out, I could tell by the way you looked at Alison that you felt differently about her. Then she started saying all of these gay jokes and singling you out in front of everyone. And with Hanna? She used to constantly make fat jokes. I walked into the bathroom one day and she was with Hanna teaching her how to make herself vomit. Aria had things going on too, but they weren't as big as what she did to you guys. I wouldn't kill Ali, although I sometimes wanted to punch her. But the fact that Toby would think something like that, especially after people thought he killed Ali, just pisses me off." Spencer sighed in relief after getting all of this off of her chest. Emily's eyes were wide with how passionate Spencer was with her words.

"Damn," Emily said. "He's not worth your time anyway. You're better than him, you deserve more than what he offers. When you said that he left you out in the rain by yourself, I felt like walking over to his house and kicking him in the place it hurts most."

Spencer laughed and dropped her head onto Emily's shoulders.

"Thanks," Spencer said as she leaned up to kiss Emily's cheek. She placed her lips gently on Emily's soft skin and lingered for a second. Emily's face immediately lit up like a fire, and she felt as hot as the sun.

Spencer jumped back from kissing Emily's cheek all of a sudden. Not because she was scared, but because as soon as her lips touched the other girl's skin it felt like someone had just pumped gallons of adrenaline into her system, making her feel an improbable range of emotion. Fear, happiness, sadness, excitement, lust, aching. She lingered to feel the emotions more, but once they became overwhelming, making her head spin, she had no choice but to part herself from the other girl.

She'd kissed Emily's cheek before. Her forehead, the top of her head, her nose. But she hadn't felt these emotions before. Maybe a little spark lit inside her, but not as big as the one she just experienced.

"Knock, knock!" Hanna said as she barged into the room. "Emily, what's wrong with your face? You look like an apple."

Emily blushed even more as Hanna spoke and Spencer turned to look at her with a smile.

"What were you two up to?" Hanna asked with a wink directed at Emily.

"Nothing," Spencer said, standing up. "I was reminding Emily of the time she almost fell down the stairs in school in front of her crush." She turned and smiled at Emily, knowing that the girl blushed for another reason, a reason that stemmed from Spencer.

"Spence," Aria said as she entered the room. "What happened downtown with Toby? You looked like you were about to kill him."

"Like how I apparently killed Ali?" Spencer said, feeling sad again as she retold the girls the story.

**A/N: I said there would be a kiss ;) I'm sorry for teasing you. I'm just trying to make this realistic. It's more of hurt/comfort than romance, but there will be romance. I appreciate the people following/reading/reviewing very much.**


	5. Chapter 5

Spencer entangled her fingers together in frustration. She was lying on her bed, face up, in silence. Her sister and parents had just returned from New York and Spencer didn't even have the will to greet them. Her mind had been running wild ever since she kissed Emily's cheek last night. She couldn't figure out why she reacted so strangely to such an innocent kiss. Plus, it was only a kiss on the cheek and in no way sexual. Spencer had kissed Emily and the other girls on the cheek multiple times; it was her way of showing friendly affection. Never did her body erupt into a multitude of emotions when kissing Emily before. Ever since the kiss Spencer hadn't been able to focus on anything, including school work, which frustrated her even more. This was a problem that even a Hastings couldn't dissect.

Maybe it was because she was so angry and upset with Toby. Anger and sadness can cause strange emotions to rise to the surface. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Emily had comforted Spencer so much and that their friendship was the strongest out of the girls. Maybe they had a connection that the other girls didn't when with each other.

Maybe I'm overthinking this, Spencer thought to herself as she rose from her bed to walk downstairs and see her family. She didn't exactly want to see them, given the fact that they are very invasive and irritating, but she wanted to run away from the impossible puzzle consuming her mind.

"Hi," Spencer said with fake cheer as she hugged her mother and father. She looked at Melissa and smiled. "Welcome back."

"Thank you," Melissa said, nicer than usual before she took her suitcase up the stairs of the Hasting's house.

"So," Veronica began, "what did you do while we were away? No parties, I presume, seeing as the house looks spotless."

"Nothing much," Spencer replied as she sat down on the kitchen counter. "Studying. Reading."

"That's my girl," her father said as he slapped Spencer on the back with a smile.

Spencer grinned at her father's pride and hopped off of the counter.

"I just wanted to welcome you back before I went to bed," Spencer said as she began to walk up the stairs to her room.

"Goodnight, honey," Veronica said, smiling at her daughter.

Spencer collapsed onto her bed and kicked off her slippers. She surrounded herself with the goose-feather duvet and plopped her head onto her pillow in defeat. She was so confused at her emotions that she begged her body to fall into a mode of sleep. Eventually, after tossing and turning for 10 minutes, rest consumed her frustrated and confused mind and she slept soundly without interruption from Emily in her dreams.

Spencer knew what she had to do. She had to kiss Emily again. Spencer could not go on living with an unsolved mystery floating around her mind for the rest of her life. Those feelings had to have been caused by something, and one way of investigating, and the only solution she could find, was to kiss Emily again.

Spencer had thought of other ways to solve this mystery, but all of them came to dead ends. The one she was dreading the most turned out to be the best solution. She loves Emily, but not romantically. So why would these feelings show themselves around her?

She couldn't think of a way to kiss Emily without her bringing up questions. Kissing Emily, on the mouth, wouldn't be something that would just happen. Spencer doesn't go around kissing her friends on the mouth everyday. Though she has always been closer with Emily than the other girls, kissing her best friend for no apparent reason would definitely be abnormal.

Spencer sunk into her armchair, looking out of the window into the street for hours, trying to think of a way to subtly kiss Emily. She had never imagined that she would be pondering how, when, and where to kiss her best friend, of whom she has no sexual feelings towards, but the emotions that crept up on Spencer that night were chilling and mind-boggling, something she had never experienced with anyone before, not even Toby. The feelings weren't bad at all, they were amazing, but they scared Spencer profusely. Especially when they only revealed themselves when she kissed her best friend.

"The swim team is throwing a party tonight and the whole school is going," Emily said to her friends in the hallway of Rosewood High with a smile on her face. "You guys should come, it'll be fun. It's at my friend's house. She lives in, like, a freaking mansion. There's gonna be a DJ and alcohol."

"Alcohol?" Hanna questioned Emily loudly. "Count me in."

Emily laughed at her friend's humor. Hanna would be the first to say yes to any party that has alcohol.

"Sounds fun," Aria said with a smile.

"Spence?" Emily turned to Spencer with a smile.

"Uh, yeah," Spencer said expressionlessly. She didn't want to jeopardize things with her and Emily by showing her emotions, so she played her golden poker face. Plus her mind was reeling due to Emily and schoolwork at the same time.

"Come on, Spence!" Hanna said, hitting Spencer's shoulder with her elbow. "Alcohol, you love alcohol! And, plus, think of all of the single men there...none of them can resist Spencer Hastings."

"I don't think I'm ready for romance," Spencer replied with a tiny smile.

"You don't have to date them, Spencer," Hanna retaliated. "You need a hook-up to get your mind off of Toby. What about that guy on the decathlon team? He has big arms and a hot body. Don't act like you haven't noticed," she said with a wink.

"Maybe," Spencer said with a fake smile. "I have to go. I'll see you guys tonight." Spencer ran off in the other direction. The party would be a perfect place to kiss Emily. There would be alcohol and Spencer knows how to act like she's actually drunk, although she may not be. Emily might just think Spencer's a flirt when she's drunk. Though Emily would never take advantage of her, Spencer might be able to slip in a quick, accidental drunk kiss.

"Damn, this girl is stacked!" Hanna exclaimed as the 4 girls walked up the driveway to a white mansion. All of the lights in the house were on and people could be seen through the windows dancing and kissing.

Spencer had on a tight black dress that stopped above her knees. Emily wore a red, strapless skin-tight dress that also rose very high on her. Aria was wearing a black and pink dress that flared out at the bottom and Hanna wore a white dress that dropped slightly below her knees. Hanna had Caleb by her side in jeans and a dress shirt.

They walked into the house and the loud music immediately hit their ears. The house was filled with teenagers dancing, talking, and drinking. Hanna grabbed Spencer's arm and led her over to Andrew, the captain of the decathlon team whom Spencer knew fairly well. Hanna nudged Spencer in his direction and he greeted her with a hug.

Emily was walking around the first floor with Aria, looking for something to drink. They reached the kitchen where stacks of alcohol lined the granite countertops.

"Let's make something," Aria suggested, feeling thrifty.

"Like what?" Emily replied with an excited smile.

"99 proof?" Aria asked with a devious grin.

"Never had it," Emily said.

"It's awesome!" Aria stated. "It's 99% alcohol. It really burns your throat. 3 shots of that and you're drunk. If you had half a bottle you'd be out for at least a day."

Emily was intrigued. "Sounds awesome. Let's do it."

The girls stood in the kitchen grabbing all of the ingredients to make the drink. Aria and Emily were the least close of all the girls, and they were happy to be having fun with one another. Usually the only time they hang out is when all of the girls are together, stressed about A or something that A had done to them. Emily never confided much in Aria until recently, when she began to take an interest in Emily's love life, especially since it was focused on Spencer.

"Is that it?" Emily asked once all of the ingredients were mixed together.

"Yup," Aria said with a smile as she poured the concoction into two shot glasses. She handed one to Emily and grinned. "Ready for this? You'll never get enough. Within five minutes you're tipsy, it's great."

"I was born ready," Emily retaliated with a cheeky smile. She tilted her head back and poured the drink down her throat in unison with Aria. When she swallowed she began to cough.

"Oh, damn!" Emily screamed. "That does burn! It's tingling now…"

Aria laughed at Emily. It's always entertaining watching people try a new drink for the first time.

"But it's awesome, right?" Aria asked as she put down her shot glass onto the counter.

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Emily replied with a smile. "Hanna would go crazy over this. Never tell her your secret, or she'll be wasted for the rest of her life."

Aria laughed. "Oh God, no. If Hanna knew about this she'd be pouring it into a water bottle and taking it to school."

"Where is Hanna, anyway?" Emily asked. "And Spencer. They disappeared."

"Dunno," Aria responded. "Let's go find them."

Emily and Aria walked back into the humid room filled with angsty teenagers dancing their virginity away. Out of nowhere, a hand touched Aria's shoulder and she swung around. It was one of her friends, and within seconds, Emily was by herself in the middle of her sweaty classmates.

She walked around the first floor of the house, looking for any of the girls, or anyone she knew. She didn't want to look awkward by herself at a party. Once searching on the first floor proved unsuccessful, she walked up the marble staircase to the second floor. When she got to the top, where the music and banter wasn't as loud, she began to slowly walk down the long hallways until someone suddenly pulled her into a room.

Emily screamed and whipped her body around, ready to face whoever grabbed her. She sighed in relief upon noticing it was one of her classmates.

Emily arched her eyebrows in confusion. "Why the hell did you do that? You scared me half to death."

The girl smiled at Emily. "I wanted to talk to you. You seem like a cool person. No one here is cool, they all are a bunch of little shits." The girl was obviously drunk as she swayed back and forth. "Your hair is so cool, like, holy shit, your hair, could, like, be a model for a hair magazine and stuff…"

Emily backed away from the girl with her eyebrows crinkled. This was the strangest conversation she had ever had.

"And your face," the girl began once more, moving closer to Emily. "Was that shit, like, created by the gods or something? Daaaaamn…" she touched Emily's cheek.

Emily backed up against the wall, her eyes wide. The girl was coming on to her, a girl she knew but not very well. She didn't want to start kissing a drunk girl, especially one she is not attracted to. The girl moved closer to Emily. She could smell the vodka leave the other girl's mouth they were so close.

She leant in for the kiss, but Emily turned her head in defiance.

"Whaaat?" the girl asked angrily. "I thought you were gay!"

Emily scowled at the girl. "Can I just leave?"

"But I wanna kiss you," the girl responded, pinning Emily to the wall.

"Well, I don't want to kiss you," Emily replied, trying to free herself from the stronger girl's grip.

"Why? You got a girlfriend?"

Spencer wanted to get away from Andrew as quickly as possible. Sure, he's attractive and smart, but she didn't want to date him. She wanted to find Emily. Maybe she'd just tell Emily that after she kissed her cheek she felt something, and, as friends, she wanted to clear things up.

"We should study together sometime," Andrew suggested, moving closer to Spencer.

"You're pretty smart, you could just study by yourself," Spencer replied with a sarcastic smile. She kept turning her head to see if she could find Emily.

"I have to go," Spencer said as she turned away from Andrew and walked around the living room in search of Emily. She asked some of Emily's teammates if they had seen her, but most of them said no. One of them thought she saw the brunette go upstairs.

Spencer just wanted to confront Emily and get it over with. She knew Emily would be fine with it, she's her best friend. Spencer walked up the stairs slowly in her tiny dress and flats. She pushed her hair from out of her face and walked down one of the long hallways, careful to listen for any noises coming from the rooms. She didn't want to walk in on any of her classmates having sex.

As she walked further down the hallway, the loudness subdued dramatically. The music was still playing, but Spencer could hear herself think for once. As she reached the end of the hallway, giving up, she heard a familiar voice.

Well, I don't want to kiss you," the voice said. Spencer pinpointed the room and put her ear to the door.

"Why? You got a girlfriend?" She heard an obviously drunk voice stutter.

"Stop," she heard Emily say. Spencer opened the door to the room quickly, preparing to punch someone if they tried to make Emily do anything she didn't want to.

She saw a brawly girl pinning Emily against the wall by her hands. Spencer walked angrily over to Emily and told the other girl to back off as she put an arm around Emily's waist.

"Yes, she does have a girlfriend," Spencer said, not meaning it, but trying to prevent Emily from being attacked.

Emily looked confused but knew what Spencer was doing. She put her hand on her hip and looked at the other girl angrily.

"Do you think I'm...I'm stupid?" the girl managed to say through her slurs. "You're straight, Hastings. Unless To-Toby was a girl."

"Oh, ok, if that's what you think." Spencer eyed the girl with hate. She turned to Emily, put a hand on her cheek, mouthed "trust me", and connected their lips softly, quickly, and with care.

Butterflies ran up Spencer's stomach and her heart started beating way too fast to be normal. She drew her lips away from Emily's, looked her in the eyes for a split second, and turned to the girl.

"I suggest you leave," Spencer demanded. The girl laughed and fell out of the doorway, making her way down the hall on all fours.

Emily sank down against the wall, blushing.

"Ferris Bueller, you're my hero," she sighed with a smile.

Spencer sat down next to her so that their bodies were slightly touching.

"Yeah, well, we've all been through enough without drunken classmates trying to get their way with us," Spencer replied with a smile. She put a hand on Emily's knee and gripped it. "After what Ben did to you last year, I figured that I shouldn't let it happen again."

"Yeah," Emily remembered, suddenly getting a little sad. "I don't know why I'm such an easy target for sex-driven monsters at this school."

Spencer giggled and removed her hand from Emily's knee to put it on her own.

"That was a nice thing you did,though," Emily said as she turned to Spencer. "Kind of strange...but nice, and I appreciate it."

Spencer looked confused. "Strange?" she asked.

"Yeah," Emily smiled. "I expected you to punch her, not kiss me."

Spencer panicked for an explanation that wouldn't reveal her true motives. "Well," she began, "I felt like punching her, but I'm a little drunk...and she's huge."

Emily smiled and looked at the ceiling. "Oh. Well I just want you to know, in case you're thinking this, that just because I'm gay and you kissed me I'm not suddenly in love with you."

"You're not?" Spencer questioned sarcastically. "Damn, I thought that if you kiss a gay girl she automatically loves you! I've never been so heartbroken…"

Emily laughed at Spencer's sincerity and politeness. She turned and stared into Spencer's eyes with a smile.

"We should go back downstairs," Spencer suggested as she stood up, getting nervous as Emily lovingly stared into her eyes. She didn't want Emily to see her blushing, especially when she hadn't even thought about why she was blushing in the first place. "Hanna and Aria are probably looking for us." She offered her hand to Emily and the other girl grabbed it. Spencer pulled Emily up and they walked back into the hallway, passing the drunken girl who was laying unconscious on the floor.

**A/N: I appreciate reviews. This chapter definitely wasn't my best writing...I have midterms this week and an essay due for English, so I've been totally stressed and my writing has been affected by it. But, seeing as winter break is next week, I'll be sure to write better than I did this chapter :P Review if you want, suggest things if you want.**


	6. Chapter 6

This is bad, Spencer thought to herself as she slammed her body onto her bed. She covered her eyes with her hands and mentally screamed. The kiss with Emily, although short and the furthest thing from romantic, was amazing. Their lips had hardly touched, yet sensations Spencer never knew existed before threw themselves into her heart and refused to leave. The kiss was so gentle. Emily hadn't even puckered back at all, but her lips were so soft, warm, and welcoming. They weren't dry and they weren't soaked in saliva, they were perfect. They weren't hard, they were soft and accepting. Nothing like Toby's. His were forceful and rough.

"Hey," Emily said as she walked into Spencer's room. Spencer immediately sat up in astonishment and fixed her hair.

"It's not that I'm not happy to see you...but what are you doing here?" Spencer asked as Emily sat on the bed next to her.

"I found something," Emily replied as she searched through her backpack in the dim light of the room. It was at least 10pm on a Saturday. Spencer had been preparing to go to sleep to escape thoughts of Emily...until the girl randomly walked into her room.

"What is it?" Spencer asked, her eyes widening, suddenly forgetting about her feelings for Emily and instead on what she had found.

"Look," Emily said as she took out a journal from her backpack, "it's Jenna's."

Spencer grabbed the journal from Emily's hands in excitement and opened it. "Where the hell did you find this?"

Emily smiled. "In the locker room," she responded. "It was on the floor and I picked it up to take it to the lost and found, until I saw the name on the front. I opened it up and found nothing, but then I turned to the middle of the book and found writing."

"Emily, you're scandalous and I love you," Spencer smiled with pride at Emily's find. Emily blushed and gently took the book from Spencer's hands.

"Here," she said as she turned a few pages until she found one with writing on it. "I don't know what any of this means…" she started, "but they're definitely not chemistry notes."

"You're right about that," Spencer replied with a smile. She turned a few more pages until she was almost at the back of the notebook. "Look." Spencer poked Emily's shoulder. "There's an address."

"Does it say whose it is?" Emily asked, leaning closer to Spencer to look into the book further.

"No," Spencer responded with disappointment. "But it's not that far away...this street is a couple of blocks away from mine."

"Should we call Aria and Hanna?" Emily asked, knowing that Spencer was about to suggest going to the address.

"No," she replied. "The more people, the more noise."

Spencer stood up from her bed and pulled a hoodie over her shirt. "Let's go," she said as she turned to Emily.

Emily stood up from Spencer's bed and they quietly walked down the stairs, not wanting to disturb anyone in the house. They walked out of the front door into the cold air and made their way down the street.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to check this place out so late?" Emily whispered to Spencer.

"We'd be spotted easier in daylight," Spencer responded in a low voice. "Plus, it'd be harder to see what's going on in the house during the day...if they have lights on, we'll be able to see everything."

Emily didn't reply to Spencer, she knew she was right and arguing with the other girl would get her nowhere. Plus, Emily felt like she owed Spencer after the previous night. Spencer saved her from getting sexually assaulted from a girl twice her size, and Emily didn't know how to thank her.

Spencer glanced over at Emily quickly to make sure that she was still there in the darkness. She noticed Emily had her arms crossed and her head held down against the wind. The other girl only had a T-shirt on. A sudden, new, protective nature came over Spencer and she whipped off her hoodie. She handed it to Emily and smiled.

"No," Emily replied. "It's freezing and it's yours."

"Just put it on," Spencer nagged with a quick smile. "I'm fine. You have goosebumps the size of bowling balls."

Emily threw Spencer a grateful smile and slipped the hoodie over her head. It smelt like Spencer and Emily grinned at the scent. It made her feel protected. Spencer was always the most protective of the girls, and Emily loved her for it. Whenever she was with Spencer, she knew that she would be the first on the other girl's mind. Spencer hardly ever thought of herself when in danger, and Emily genuinely appreciated her for it.

"That's the house." Emily pointed at a large brick building with some of the windows boarded up. From what they could see in the darkness, the grass in the yard was dead and withered. Any flowers that had once enjoyed life in the sun were now drooped over in sadness at their mistreatment. Something had happened to the person, or people, living in this house, and the two girls could tell from its appearance.

"I feel like I'm in To Kill a Mockingbird and we're at Boo Radley's house…" Spencer commented with slight sarcasm, although there was a hint of fear in her voice. Emily moved closer to Spencer as they silently walked up the grieving yard to the side of the house. The windows on the front porch were boarded up, so there was nothing to see there.

"There," Spencer pointed out to Emily, moving her eyes to a window that was free of boards. A dimly lit light revealed the contents of the room: nothing. Just a desk and papers on the floor. There were some shoes by the door, indicating that somebody is in the house.

"This is so we-HOLY SHIT!" Emily screamed and fell to the floor as a man's face slammed into the window. His bald head and scarred face made Spencer scream and duck under the window. The man's eyes glowed red with anger. He was obviously not fond of visitors.

"Emily!" Spencer whispered loudly into the darkness. The man had definitely heard something, but he had not necessarily seen anyone.

"Here," Emily whimpered from her location on the ground. Spencer walked over to Emily and helped her up. She took the other girl's hand and led them away from the house at high speed.

Once they were back onto the sidewalk and away from the house, they sat down on the pavement and sighed.

"That did not go well," Spencer remarked, looking at Emily.

"Really?" Emily asked with wide eyes.

"Hey," Spencer moved closer to Emily so that their arms were touching. She could feel the heat of the other girl at her side. "Are you alright?"

Emily sighed and dropped her head. "Yeah," she responded, "just a little shaken up. He is not very pretty."

Spencer wrapped her arm around Emily's waist protectively. At the time, she wasn't thinking about her feelings for Emily, just her natural reaction to the other girl in fear. Emily rested her head on Spencer's shoulder and curled her knees to her chest. She could feel the goosebumps on Spencer's arms, but knew the girl wouldn't take the hoodie back. They stayed in this position for 10 minutes, in silence, listening to the other one breathing. It wasn't until Spencer checked her phone that she realized how late it was.

"Hey," Spencer said as Emily raised her head from the other girl's shoulder. "It's almost eleven. We should go back to my house. Don't worry about going home, you can stay over. You can borrow something to sleep in. I don't think either of us would feel comfortable with you driving home after our fun adventure."

Emily stood up and nodded her head in agreement. Spencer raised herself and began to walk down the pavement next to Emily towards the Hasting's house.

"I don't get it," Emily suddenly said. "What does that house have to do with anything? The only person in there is a hermit who looks like he belongs in an insane asylum. What does it have to do with Jenna?"

"We'll figure something out," Spencer said. "But we won't be going back there for a while, and especially not at night."

The girls walked up the stairs to Spencer's porch and quietly opened the door. They silently crept up the stairs and Spencer tossed Emily a lacrosse shirt and shorts. Emily quickly undressed and Spencer collapsed on her bed.

"Do you wanna call Aria and Hanna?" Emily asked, figuring that Spencer wouldn't want to sleep alone with her.

Spencer was startled by Emily's question. Did she feel uncomfortable with Spencer after she kissed her?

"No, not really, why?" Spencer answered, her heart rate speeding up in fear.

"I just figured you might want more people here," Emily began as she walked over to Spencer's bed.

"That's not true. The less drama the better. I prefer having you around, you're less dramatic than the others. I love them to pieces, but sometimes they bring in their emotions more than is needed," Spencer replied as Emily layed down next to her. Spencer and Emily got under the covers, both on opposite sides of the bed.

"Thanks?" Emily laughed. She batted her eyes and yawned. Spencer curled up in to a ball and closed her eyes. Both girls fell asleep quickly feeling safe with the other one near.

Emily slowly opened her eyes the next morning and quietly gasped. Spencer's lips were less than an inch away from her own. Emily's eyes widened and she panicked where she was laying. She wanted to move away as soon as possible, resisting the urge to connect their lips. She was in denial over liking Spencer as more than a friend, but Spencer's recent protective attitude had gotten to Emily. She really admired Spencer's courage and loyalty, it made her go crazy. Spencer had been through a lot with Toby, yet the only people she seemed to care about were her friends.

Emily didn't want to wake Spencer up, so she began to slowly move her face away from the other girl's. Without warning, Spencer let out a sleepy moan and her hand gripped Emily's arm in resistance. Spencer was utterly unconscious and had no idea of her actions. Emily just layed there, a little further away from Spencer's mouth than she was before, and tried to go back to sleep. She knew that there would be no escaping the grip of Spencer Hastings, and she was not prepared for the wrath of a grumpy Spencer that had been woken up way too early for her liking. Emily sighed and let Spencer hold onto her arm. Eventually, she fell back to sleep, a smile on her face from Spencer's unconscious loving behavior.

**A/N: I have ideas for the next 4 chapters...so expect romance in either the next one or the one after ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

"I think I'm gay."

Spencer stared with her eyes wide open at the white ceiling as the words escaped her mouth. Her heart began to beat faster and blood rushed to her cheeks. Her palms were getting slippery with sweat as she dried them on her jeans. She took in a deep breath and brought her head back down to face Dr. Sullivan.

"Why do you say that?" Sullivan replied as she scribbled something into her notebook. Her eyes met with Spencer's again and Spencer changed position on the couch opposite her.

"Because whenever I'm around Emily, I receive unwelcome heart palpitations," Spencer replied in a scholarly manner. Just because she was nervous didn't mean she wasn't articulate.

"Hmm." Dr. Sullivan put down her notebook on a coffee table and looked into Spencer's eyes. "Maybe you're just scared that she's going to get hurt. There are other reasons for a fast heartbeat other than a crush."

Spencer sighed and tipped her head back and sunk into the couch. "No," she began. "I know how I feel." She sat up at stared into Dr. Sullivan's eyes. "I don't get so...idiotic around anyone else. My heart doesn't beat faster than the speed of light around Aria or Hanna and they're just as close to me as Emily is."

"Well," Dr. Sullivan responded, "maybe, instead of causing yourself to have a heart attack every time you see Emily, you should do something about your crush."

"She's my best friend. She doesn't like me in that way," Spencer replied with frustration. "I would have been able to tell. I can read her easier than the alphabet."

A smile crept across Dr. Sullivan's face. "Well, there are ways of seeing if she likes you. You mustn't rid your mind of the possibility. You're incredibly intelligent, you'll think of something. If Emily likes you in the way you want her to, and you do something to provoke her, who knows what could happen. Usually I don't suggest things like this, making someone jealous, but I think I know you girls well enough."

Spencer smirked and stood up. "I've never seen this side of you before, Dr. Sullivan. Maybe you should be a marriage counselor."

Dr. Sullivan smiled in return to Spencer's comment as the girl walked out of the door.

Spencer walked down the hallways of Rosewood High to where her friends stood against a row of lockers. She glanced at Emily, then to Aria and Hanna in a quick attempt to hide her lust. She walked up to the girls and they greeted her with smiles.

"Where have you been all morning?" Aria asked as Spencer opened her locker.

"Home," Spencer replied with a lie.

"Doing what?" Hanna suddenly questioned with a smile.

Spencer shut her locker door and turned to Hanna. "Sleeping? Not everything I do is scandalous."

Hanna winked at Spencer and walked away to class. Aria ran to catch up with Hanna after saying goodbye to Spencer and Emily.

"So," Emily began, "were you really sleeping?"

"Yes," Spencer replied in an obvious tone as they began to walk down the hallway next to each other, much closer than they'd ever walked before. Though the movement was subtle, they both were aware of their sudden magnetic attraction towards each other. Their arms were touching slightly and they could feel each other's warmth.

"Spencer," Emily started, "I can tell when you're lying."

Spencer sighed. She didn't want to tell Emily that she'd gone to therapy...especially since the reason she went there in the first place was _becaus_e of Emily.

"My class is here," Spencer stated, happy to avoid explaining anything to Emily. "I'll see you later."

Emily sighed and gave Spencer a half smile as she walked into the classroom.

It was snowing. The roads were covered in white. School had been dismissed due to the weather in an attempt to make sure kids got home safely before the blizzard started. Emily was walking home in the cold, by herself, her arms embracing her body to protect against the cold. Suddenly, a car pulled up and parked next to where Emily was walking. Spencer got out of her Mercedes and ran to Emily.

"Why the hell are you walking home? I would've given you a ride. Get in my car, I'll drive you, I don't want you to get sick," Spencer demanded with care. Emily walked up to Spencer's car and got into the passenger seat.

Spencer reached over and turned Emily's heated seat on. She grabbed a blanket from her back seat and put it on Emily's lap. She turned up the heat and began to drive towards Emily's house.

"Thanks," Emily said as they drove slowly down the slick roads.

Spencer weakly smiled at Emily. "I'm not going to let my best friend walk home in 10 degree weather."

After Spencer dropped Emily off at her house, she drove quickly back to her own. She couldn't stand being around Emily and not kissing her. She wanted to kiss Emily again more than anything. Being with her in the car made Spencer's palms so sweaty she could hardly hold on to the steering wheel. Spencer ran to her bed and fell under her covers to go to sleep. She hoped that Emily wouldn't show up in her dreams again.

Emily stared at her hands in frustration. She'd had enough of just being friends with Spencer and avoiding telling her the truth. Emily brought her hands to her face and sighed. She doesn't want to tell Spencer how she feels, especially seeing as Spencer is straight, but keeping her feelings hidden away hadn't turned out well with Alison. Why does she always have to fall for her friends? Truthfully, she'd had a small crush on Spencer since they'd met, but nothing like this. It's Spencer's fault for kissing her and causing her feelings to go haywire. Emily scrunched her eyebrows together in anger. She has to tell Spencer how she feels. She can't keep her feelings to herself anymore, especially after what happened with Ali.

Emily stood up from the couch and grabbed her car keys. She marched out the door and headed to Spencer's house.

Once she arrived at the Hasting's, she got out of the car and walked up to the door with confidence. As she began to reach for the bell, she froze. Maybe this is a bad idea. What if Spencer hates her? What if they become distant due to Emily's feelings? Alison tormented Emily because of how she felt, would Spencer do something similar? But Spencer isn't Alison. Spencer is better than Alison. She doesn't manipulate people in her own favour. Spencer wouldn't make fun of Emily like Alison did.

Emily rang the doorbell and Spencer sleepily walked down the stairs and opened the door. She smiled when she saw Emily standing there, but her smile soon dispersed once seeing Emily's facial expressions. They were a mix of anger, embarrassment, frustration, and fear.

"Hey," Spencer said as she closed the door behind Emily. "What are you doing here? We're not going back to that house, if that's what you're thinking."

Emily suddenly grabbed Spencer's hand and pulled her over to the couch. They sat down next to each other, slightly angled to look into each other's eyes.

"Are your parents home?" Emily asked blatantly.

"No," Spencer replied quickly, wondering what was the cause of Emily's strange behavior.

"Good," Emily began. She looked into Spencer's eyes and grabbed her hands. Spencer's eyebrows scrunched in confusion, but she didn't try and break away from Emily's soft grip. "I need to tell you something."

Spencer's mind was racing. This was unlike Emily. She craved to know the answer to whatever was plaguing Emily's mind. "What is it?" she asked.

"It took a lot of courage to come here, so please don't laugh at me," Emily said, her eyes beginning to water out of fear.

Spencer rubbed her thumb on the top of Emily's hand. "Whatever it is, I'm not going to laugh." Spencer looked into Emily's sad eyes. Emily looked away.

"You know what," Emily said as she began to stand up, "maybe this was a bad idea. I should go."

Spencer gripped onto Emily's hands, refusing to let her friend leave. "What's wrong?" Spencer asked as Emily was forced to sit back down again.

A tear escaped Emily's eyes and she looked at Spencer. "It's just that…" Emily began, Spencer paying complete attention and not diverting her eyes from Emily's for a second. "I think I like you as more than a friend, and I just wanted to tell you that. That's all I have to say." Another tear fell down Emily's cheek. "I didn't want to keep my feelings and then have something happen like with Ali. But I know you're straight, just like her, so I don't expect anything from you. I just needed to tell you."

Spencer moved her hand to clear away the tears cascading from Emily's eyes. She moved slightly closer to the other girl so that their knees were touching. Spencer put a hand on Emily's knee and smiled.

"There's no reason for you to cry," Spencer said. "You know I love you, and that Aria and Hanna love you too."

Emily's heart began to beat faster. Spencer didn't feel the same way, she would've done something by now.

Emily looked away from Spencer as more tears fell down her cheeks. Spencer placed a hand on Emily's cheek and turned her towards her. She used her thumb to wipe away more of Emily's tears.

"Don't," she whispered as her other hand found Emily's other cheek. She cupped the girl's face, where tears were still falling, and looked her in the eyes. Emily's eyes displayed the pain her heart felt. Spencer drew Emily closer and rested her forehead on her friend's. Emily was staring into Spencer's eyes. Spencer looked down at Emily's lips and then quickly back up to meet the girl's large eyes.

"Don't cry," Spencer whispered. She was so close to Emily she could feel the other girl breathing short and worried breaths.

Spencer looked back down at Emily's lips. A tear had managed to reach them at this point. Spencer looked into Emily's eyes again before closing her own and gently connecting their lips. Emily didn't pucker back due to her surprise. Spencer's lips stayed locked to Emily's for at least five incredible seconds before she pulled back and rested her forehead against Emily's again. Emily's eyes had been open wide in shock the whole time. Her face showed no emotion. Spencer backed up and looked at Emily.

"What is it?" she asked, worried.

The corners of Emily's mouth began to rise in a smile. "I just wasn't expecting that."

Spencer laughed as a tear of happiness left her eye. She cupped Emily's face again and kissed her, this time Emily responding with her soft, welcoming lips.

**A/N: Bow chicka wow wow.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I appreciate all of the reviews, favourites, and follows very much :-) you can send me recommendations for the story if you want, I'm open to ideas. And you can follow me on Tumblr at mhiamitchesario ;)**

As Spencer walked into the busy cafeteria of Rosewood high, her eyes automatically found her girlfriend sitting across from her two best friends. Her heartbeat sped up as she walked over to her group and sat down next to Emily.

As Spencer sat down next to her, Emily could feel butterflies in her stomach and she couldn't suppress the smile that invaded her mouth. Emily quickly reminded herself to snap back to reality instead of looking like a horny 13-year-old boy seeing pictures of naked women for the first time.

Aria shuffled in her seat and locked her eyes with all of the girls. "You know what worries me?" she said, "We haven't gotten an A text in weeks. It's unlike her...him...it...to leave us alone for an extended period of time."

Spencer nodded her head in agreement. "Hopefully it doesn't have something big planned…"

Hanna spoke up out of nowhere. "Ok, can we, like, decide whether A is a boy or a girl? I hate A and all, but calling it an it makes me feel like it's a monster. I say she's a girl."

Emily looked at Hanna and smiled at her cheerfulness.

"Okay, I guess we'll call her a she…" Aria said with a confused tone. "But that doesn't change the fact that we haven't received any messages from her for the past three weeks."

"Maybe someone finally killed the bitch…" Hanna mumbled.

"A doesn't seem like an easy person to get a hold of," Spencer remarked to Hanna.

Emily jumped into the conversation. "Speaking of A. I found something A-related.

Aria's eyes widened. "What'd you find? When?"

Emily shuffled in her seat. "I found something in Jenna's notebook, which she left in the locker room after gym. I went to Spencer's house and we looked through it. There was an address, so we went to it."

Hanna eyed Emily. "Why didn't you tell Aria and I?"

Emily suddenly felt nervous. The truth was because she wanted to be alone with Spencer, but she couldn't tell Hanna that. "Spencer's house is the closest to mine...my car was in the shop so I walked there. It was also late. We didn't know if you guys were sleeping."

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. I bet you just wanted to go to Spencer's because she's the hottest."

Spencer laughed and glanced at Emily, who was rolling her eyes and smiling.

"I appreciate your compliment, Hanna," Spencer began, "but I don't think you would've wanted to be there. We went to an address we found in the journal and we almost shit ourselves when a wrinkly old man popped up into the window. He looked like Frankenstein's monster."

Hanna scrunched her eyebrows. "Yep, you're right, I'm glad you didn't invite me, no thank you. But I don't appreciate being left out. So, for that, we're having a sleepover tonight. It's Friday and I'm done with this hell hole. I need to have fun. Caleb's out of town so that's not an option. You ladies are my next best thing."

"Thanks, I'm flattered," Emily said sarcastically.

Hanna reached across the table and grabbed Emily's hand. She moved her eyebrows seductively. "Except for you, Em," she winked, "you're my girl toy."

"Shut up, Hanna," Emily said with a smile, removing her hand from her friend's.

"Sounds like fun," Aria chirped in. "Whose house?"

"Spencer's, obviously," Hanna remarked. "Her parents are never home and Melissa's always in some magical far away land. Plus, Spencer's rich, her parents can afford the best booze."

Hanna ran over to the kitchen as soon as the girls entered Spencer's house. She thrust open a cupboard and grabbed all of the alcohol in sight.

"Jesus, Hanna," Spencer started, "you know my house better than I do."

"I have an alcohol sensor," Hanna said with a smile as she returned into the living room. All of the girls were sitting on the floor. Emily and Spencer had their backs resting up against one couch, and Aria and Hanna on the couch opposite. Hanna poured a concoction of alcohol into large cups and handed each of the girls one.

"I trust you with my life, Han, but what is this?" Emily asked before she took a sip. Hanna had already indulged herself in the drink.

"I made it up," Hanna proudly stated. "I don't have a name for it, yet, though. I just mixed Coke and Sprite with vodka."

Spencer tentatively took a sip of the drink. She forced it down her throat and her face scrunched up.

"It's...great…" Spencer choked. Emily looked at Spencer and laughed. Hanna rolled her eyes and took the cup from Spencer's hands. She poured the rest of the drink into her own.

"Fine," Hanna retaliated, "do I need to go and get the baby some apple juice?"

"Do I need to sign you up for AA?" Spencer replied with a wink.

"Haha," Hanna said, "you're hilarious."

Emily broke the friendly tension. "Can we just watch a movie?"

"I agree," Aria said. "Let's watch 12 Angry Men."

Hanna nearly spit out her drink. "No way! That's in black and white. Black and white movies suck."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Have you even seen a black and white movie, or are you just saying that because you think they're all boring?"

Hanna laughed. "Anything with only two colours is boring. Let's watch Hairspray."

"Nooo," Spencer complained. "That movie is way too positive and happy-go-lucky. How about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?"

Aria smiled. "Yes, I love that movie."

Emily looked around the room awkwardly. "I've never seen it," she admitted.

Spencer and Aria both stared at her with wide eyes, as if it were a crime.

"Ok, that settles it," Aria began, "we're watching it."

Spencer and Emily automatically sat next to each other. Not solely because they were together, but because that had always been the way things were. No matter what, the two brunettes were always drawn to each other. The fact that they fought more than the other girls showed their closeness and care for each other, something they hadn't noticed until recently.

Spencer and Emily wanted to be closer during the movie, like a couple, but that would not work out. They didn't want to tell Aria and Hanna in case their relationship didn't last long, or in case it would cause a separation in the group. They had decided to wait a few weeks before admitting to it. Not that Aria and Hanna wouldn't notice something and drag it out of them.

Spencer decided to allow her mind to get lost in the complex movie instead of her natural inhibition to curl up next to Emily, just as Emily tried her hardest to focus on the film instead of holding Spencer's hand. As much as it pained them not to be touchy-feely, they knew that it was best for the group if their relationship had time to settle in before announcing itself.

Once the movie had finished, Spencer and Emily exchanged glances. They each knew what the other was thinking.

"We'll go get blankets," Spencer said as she stood up with Emily at her side. "We're sleeping down here tonight. Aria, Hanna, wanna go and get extra pillows from my father's office?"

Aria and Hanna sleepily nodded as they stood up and walked in the other direction. Spencer grabbed Emily's hand and dragged her up the stairs. Emily ran as fast as she could. The sexual tension had gotten too great for them to handle.

"That movie was confusing," Hanna said to Aria as they entered Mr. Hasting's office.

"But it was good, wasn't it?" Aria asked as she collected pillows in her arms.

"Only because of Mark Ruffalo jumping on a bed half naked," Hanna winked. Although she was tired, she was still boy-crazy.

The two girls walked back into the living room and dumped their armfuls of pillows onto the floor.

Hanna turned to Aria. "Hey, I left my stuff upstairs. I'm gonna go and get it."

Aria nodded as she arranged the pillows on the floor. Hanna sleepily walked up the stairs and down the hallway to Spencer's room. As she went to push the door further open, she saw Emily pinning Spencer to a wall by her shoulders, kissing her ferociously. Spencer's hands were gripping onto Emily's sides and pulling her close so that their bodies were against each other. Hanna's eyes widened.

Spencer heard a noise at the door. She swung her head around and her eyes met Hanna's.

"Don't stop," Hanna said with a cheeky grin, "it was just getting exciting!"


End file.
